When societies finally become comfortable with reality, they begin to abandon the murderous laws that impede their growth. Currently, social stigma and regulated morality regarding illicit drug use produce perhaps the most destructive effects on American society. Drug laws have led to the elimination of nonviolent citizens from society – directly through incarceration or indirectly through death – which is genocidal in quantity and essence. I base my support for the decriminalization of all drugs on a human rights principle, but the horror and frustration with which I express this support is based on practicality. The most tangible effect of the ill-fated “war on drugs” in the United States is a prison population larger than that of Russia and China, and an untold death toll that rivals the number of American victims of any war, disease or catastrophe . Every indicator proves it. that U.S. drug policy is irrational, which leaves us no choice but to assume that severe anti-drug sentiment satisfies psychological needs, particularly those that operate independently of rational thought. Just this week, an Atlanta judge sentenced Louis E. Covar, a 51-year-old quadriplegic who says he uses marijuana for medical purposes, to seven years in prison. Because of his condition, Covar's sentence will cost taxpayers more than half a million dollars, five times the cost of the average inmate. I'm not attempting an emotional appeal. I would simply like to know how we could voluntarily incarcerate a "criminal" like Covar for seven years, how we could confiscate potentially constructive taxpayer money simply for restricting the freedom of a harmless individual. We argue that we must "lead by example," but... middle of paper... our problems, attack particular populations and alleviate our insecurities through displacement. Ideally, I shouldn't persuade my readers with facts. I would prefer a society where a person is free to do anything that does not violate the rights of others, where socially constructed morals do not impede individual freedom. Drug use is often an extraordinarily poor choice, but it is a choice that the individual must make. Now, regressing to fit the false conception of the moralists, I will quote a rallying cry from popular music, from a man who died because of his bad choices and because of a bad law: "Load up the bong. Turn up the song. Let the informant you call 911. And when law enforcement wants to come, don't try to run, don't try to hide, just pull out the nine, insert the clip and let one escape. (Well, maybe just invite them to join to you.)